


We Never Had This Interchange

by Certainlittlesmile, exbex



Category: The Royal Romance (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Bodyswap, F/M, Magical Realism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 08:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23968573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Certainlittlesmile/pseuds/Certainlittlesmile, https://archiveofourown.org/users/exbex/pseuds/exbex
Summary: The strangest day of Maxwell's life begins when he wakes up next to a woman he doesn't recognize-but who seems to recognize him.
Relationships: Liam/Olivia Nevrakis, Maxwell Beaumont/Main Character (The Royal Romance)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 12





	1. Who the hell are you and what have you done with my wife?

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate timeline to the universe my series "I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends", and a collaboration of this series with Certainlittlesmile's awesome universe (or a certain timeline within that universe) of "The Beaumont-Jones Chronicles".
> 
> Double your pleasure, double your fun!

Maxwell woke up to the sun on his face, but decided to keep his eyes shut for a little while longer. As he stretched out happily, he felt a leg against his; but it didn’t move. Last night had been pretty sweet, but as a result his little blossom probably needed some more beauty sleep. No matter; he’d get up and bring her breakfast in bed, he hadn’t done that for a while. But maybe a quick snuggle first wouldn’t hurt…..

What the….

The second he spooned into her snoozing form, he knew something was very, very wrong. First, she smelt different, not a bad different, just.. different, and he could feel long, straight hair flowing down her back. Startled, he opened his eyes, and thought he must be seeing things at first. Her skin was two tones paler at least… and okay she was every bit as naked and.. uh.. shapely… but… he craned his neck to see… no teeny baby bump.

Shiiiiiiiit…

He jerked backwards and threw himself out of the bed, grabbing the nearest thing he could (which happened to be one of his black Gucci shirts) to conceal his modesty. The intruder was stirring. Then she looked at him with unnerving recognition.

“Maxwell, are you alright?” She tilted her head to the side, considering. “Bad dream?”

He retreated as far across the room as he could. “Who the hell are you and what have you done with my wife?”

The strange woman narrowed her eyes, but then her expression relaxed. “Is this some new roleplay? You know I’m down for it, but I was hoping for a little more recovery time.”

“Oh no no no. I know exactly what this is.” He started to throw some jeans on quickly. “I’m not listening, I never touched you, it’s not what it looks like…”

She was still saying stuff, her tone of voice fraught, but he wasn’t listening. He grabbed his phone and made a quick exit from the bedroom.

He legged it down the stairs, buttoning up his shirt as he ran, straight out of the front door and into the grounds. He headed around the side of the house close to their balcony and began scanning all the nearby trees. He looked left and right in a panic, but there was nobody about. Nobody apart from Hana, who was wandering towards him from the direction of her cottage.

“Good morning, Maxwell. You’re up early… wait, why are you barefoot?”

He ran to her. “Hana. You’ve got to help me. There’s a _woman_. In our _bedroom_. And she’s _naked_.”

Hana blinked at him. “And this is a problem because...?”

“Because she’s _not Jen_ , Hana! I woke up and there was a strange naked woman in my bed, and she didn’t even seem to think it was strange that she was there and that I was there and…” He ran his hand through his hair. “Have you seen Jen this morning?”

Hana shook her head. “It’s early, Maxwell. Even for you.”

“I think they’re out to get me, Hana.” He looked around in paranoia. “This is a setup. Someone’s trying to do a Tariq on us. Ohmygod, do you think it’s Rick? Do you think he’s done this?”

“Maxwell, what on earth are you talking about?”

“Because he wants Jen for himself? He’s trying to split us up! But…” He sighed. “No, you’re right, Hana. He wouldn’t do that. But _someone_ would. Someone else who wants Jen to be Rick’s Queen.” He gulped. “Ohmygod, that’s what I wanted, once upon a time… is this all _my fault_?”

“Shh, Maxwell, just take some deep breaths and think for a moment...”

“I’ve just got to… you check the estate for cameras… I need to find Christopher…”

He dashed back in the direction of the house, leaving a confused looking Hana standing outside. He felt a lump in his throat, and he stopped, chastising himself. Yes, he had to work out who had done this. But he had to check Jen was okay first.

He pulled out his phone and sent her a quick text. _JEN WHERE ARE YOU??? PLS ANSWER NOW *freaking out emojis*_

No answer.

He carried on towards the house, looking around the hallway in a panic once he got inside. As was usual, Christopher appeared within seconds of his entry.

“Your Grace? Everything alright?” He looked down at Maxwell’s bare feet and up to his bedhead hair. You look a little… disheveled this morning.”

“Gotta check the perimeter, Christopher. We’ve gotta make sure nobody’s here that shouldn’t be. And we’ve gotta find Jen. She’s… _gone_...”

***

Riley slid out of bed and stretched. She was torn between annoyance that Maxwell was taking the roleplay this far, and a sense of dread: he had seemed genuinely unsettled. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She’d just get dressed and then send him a text. As if on cue, she heard the tell-tale buzz of a message coming in.

The sense of dread grew within her as she picked up the phone from the bedside stand. It felt different, the weight in her hand not even the same. She felt dizzy as she pressed the button and the lock screen showed Maxwell with his arms around another woman – a pretty, slim, dark skinned woman with black curly hair and a killer smile.

She saw the message come through at the top. _JEN WHERE ARE YOU??? PLS ANSWER NOW *freaking out emojis*_

_Jen?_

She put the phone down, and her heart raced as she moved to the wardrobe and then the closet, discovering that most of the clothes were unrecognizable, and the ones that were familiar still seemed different.

Riley focused on her breathing for a moment, hoping it would be enough to keep her from descending into a panic attack. She tugged the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around herself in a makeshift toga. It provided little in the way of protection; but was better than being stark naked.

There was a knock on the door, and Riley realized with a start that Maxwell had left it open in his hasty retreat.

Hana cautiously entered the room. “Jen? Is everything….” she gasped. “Oh my gosh. Maxwell was right. You’re not Jen.” Her chin trembled momentarily, but then she straightened her spine and glared. “Who are you?”

Riley held up her hands, palms out. “My name is Riley Zane.” She licked her lips nervously. “And I promise I haven’t done anything to Jen.” She paused, taking a shaky breath. “But if I had to guess, she’s probably in a very similar situation right now. She very likely woke up next to my husband Maxwell, in a bedroom that looks very similar to this one, and she may even be talking to my best friend Hana Lee right now.”

Hana’s eyes widened at the mention of her name. “What are you saying?”

Riley examined Hana closely. She had always been able to read Hana, and Hana had always trusted her. She’d been speaking to Maxwell’s mirror image just moments ago, and now, here was Hana’s mirror image. The similarities had to go beyond appearances and mannerisms. “When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Recognition registered on Hana’s countenance. But then she narrowed her eyes. “For that to be true, I would have to be omniscient.”

Riley tingled with relief. This was her girl. “Okay, well, let’s start listing explanations.”

“Maxwell thinks you’re trying to set him up, make it look like he’s having an affair.”

Riley nodded. “Reasonable. The only problem is, there are no clothes in this room that belong to me. And I don’t think any of the clothes in here would fit me.” She gestured behind her. “I think, in my panic, I left the wardrobe and closet open. And here I am, wearing a sheet. I don’t even have shoes. If I were trying to set Maxwell up, I would have made sure I had a means to escape.” She swallowed. “How did I manage to kidnap Jen without Maxwell waking up? And even if I had drugged him or something, someone would likely have noticed.” She paused, trying to gather her thoughts. She looked at her shaking hands, still held in front of her. “I’m shaking Hana. I’m terrified. I’m afraid I’ll never see my husband or friends or my brother again.”

Hana took a step forward, but hesitated. It was clear to Riley that her instinct was to comfort, but also to be wary.

“How about this? I’ll take this sheet off. You can see that there are no weapons on me, and you can also search the room. I won’t move from this spot, and even if I did, I’m naked; I wouldn’t be able to hurt you.” This wasn’t technically true, but Riley was desperate to gain Hana’s trust.

Hana pursed her lips. “Okay.” She flushed pink as Riley slowly removed the sheet but didn’t avert her eyes as she circled Riley. She then began to move around the room, searching in every space, even carefully lowering herself to look under the bed, and stepping briefly onto the balcony. “Alright,” she said. “You can cover up now.”

Riley pulled the sheet around her again. Hana took out her phone and began to text. “I’m letting Maxwell know what you told me, and that I’ve searched this room. I can go down to the boutique and get you some clothes. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Thank you, Hana.” She watched Hana’s retreating form as she shut the bedroom door firmly behind her and used everything within her not to freak out. She allowed herself a moment to bury her face in her hands.

She was pulled out of her misery by the feel of a tiny metal tentacle.

Riley stared at the ring on her finger. Somehow, she felt that it had something to do with all of this. She mentally cataloged what she knew about the ring. Maxwell had insisted on giving it to her, in addition to his handmade wooden ring. It had belonged to his mother. It was a beautiful ring, a small pearl with diamond accents. Riley had been hesitant; she didn’t care for the engagement ring tradition and felt it promoted archaic inequality and was ridiculously heteronormative to boot, but Maxwell had been excited to give it to her, and she wasn’t inclined to deny him something like this. Nevertheless, she had been happy to swap it for a simple, stainless steel wedding band; she wasn’t used to wearing jewelry and was just clumsy enough that she was nervous to wear it very often. But she still put it on for occasions when she dressed up, and she’d worn it for the ball last night.

Riley’s eyes widened. That was a clue. She hadn’t taken it off before bed last night, having been distracted by Maxwell. She had banged her hand clumsily against the headboard though. She pulled her hand closer. One of the diamonds was missing, and, if she wasn’t just searching desperately for a clue...she could swear there was a tiny pinpoint of blue light in the space the missing diamond had left.

She was interrupted by a knock on the door. Quickly, she moved to open it, to find Hana standing on the other side with some clothes. She moved aside and gestured Hana in, closing the door behind her.

“I found some things in the boutique that should fit. You’re only a size bigger than Jen.”

Riley sighed with relief. “You’re a lifesaver Hana.” She took the proffered clothes, noticing that Hana had thought of everything. She tossed aside the sheet and began pulling the clothing on.

Hana emitted something between a cough and a squeak and averted her gaze.

“Oh,” Riley began to button the shirt. “I’m sorry Hana. I’m a little distracted.” She paused. “And, to be honest, a bit rough around the edges. And, to be overly honest, my Hana and I have been…. close.”

“Oh.” Hana blushed, but eventually looked back at her. “Well. If we’re being that honest with each other, I should tell you that I had feelings for Jen, but she only ever had eyes for Maxwell. Although, I sometimes wonder how I would feel now, if anything had happened between me and Jen last year. I’m not so sure I would cope. Your Hana must be much stronger than I am.”

Riley sat on the edge of the bed to slip on her socks and shoes. As she tied them, she looked at Hana. “Well, I think my Hana is just...wise. She was the one who broke up with me. She recognized that she needed some time to...figure out who she was by herself.” Riley paused. “I think you’re probably stronger than you think Hana. I mean, you’re handling this situation pretty well. I feel like I’m about to fall apart any second. I’m not exaggerating when I say this. You’re helping me keep it together.”

Hana looked at Riley, finally allowing herself a shy smile in her direction.

There was a knock on the door, and a cough. “Ladies, uh, it’s me.”

Riley stood and nodded at Hana’s questioning look. Hana opened the door and Maxwell hesitantly entered. He looked at Riley and his expression hardened. “I’ve just been checking the trees for photographers outside,” he clipped. “I didn’t find anyone, and I don’t know what your angle is, but you’re not about to split me and Jen up, or whatever other nefarious plan you have going…” he stopped, tears springing into his eyes. “Just tell me where she is. Please.”

Riley held her hands up in front of her. “Maxwell, I promise, I don’t know what’s happened. I’m not trying to hurt you or Jen. I am completely freaked out by all of this, but I’m trying not to be. Look, you’ve heard of the multiverse theory, maybe? Well I think we might be looking at proof that it exists.” She inhaled, and shakily exhaled. “I went to bed last night, in a room that looks a lot like this one, with a man who looks exactly like you, an hour or two after having some hot chocolate with a woman who looks exactly like Hana. Something happened, and I think Jen may have just woken up next to my husband, and is probably having a very similar experience to the one we’re having right now.” She paused, then looked down at her clothing for a moment. “If I were trying to set you up, wouldn’t I have some of my own clothes here?” If you look around, you won’t find anything that isn’t Jen’s.”

Hana stepped closer to Maxwell and put a tentative hand on his arm. “I searched the room all over, and the balcony as well. The only things here are all yours and Jen’s.”

Riley turned her left hand inward. “This ring belonged to Maxwell and Bertrand’s mother. Maxwell proposed to me with a ring he made from twigs, but he later gave this one to me. Last night I smacked it, hard enough to dislodge one of the diamonds apparently. I hope I’m not imagining things, but I swear there’s a tiny blue light where the diamond should be.”

Maxwell and Hana both moved closer, surprise registering as they examined the blue light. “That’s...that ring looks just like one my mom used to wear.” Maxwell muttered. He looked into Riley’s eyes. “Wait. When did he give you the twig ring?”

Riley held his gaze. “We’d just gotten back from New York. There was a Homecoming Ball. Assassins attacked us. Drake was hit with a bullet that was meant for me. Bastien got us to a car and we drove to a safehouse. The next morning Hana and Maxwell, and Bertrand and Liam came to the safehouse. You and I went outside to fix the generator. You were fidgeting with some twigs, or so I thought - I mean, he was messing with some twigs, but then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.”

Maxwell and Hana were wide-eyed and open mouthed

“Right,” Maxwell eventually said. “Do you still have the twig ring?”

“No. It broke. Maxwell had a sort of funeral for it, buried it right next to Sir Leafenwood von Barksley.”

“Whoa…” Maxwell stared at her, intensely. Then he looked a little upset. “That’s… tragic. Did it have a good send off?”

“The very best.”

Maxwell walked around the bed and reached into the top drawer of the bedside unit, pulling something out. He held it out to Riley. “Jen’s didn’t break. I even made her a matching bracelet.”

“Nice.” She touched it with just the tip of her finger, as if she was afraid of harming it. “Yep. Exactly the same.”

“Alright, Riley. You’re either a very clever, very good - as in, ninja-status good - spy who’s been following Jen and me undetected for months, or you’re telling the truth.”

Hana cleared her throat. “Riley, who is Liam?”

“Liam is the king of Cordonia. Well, my Cordonia.”

Maxwell nodded absentmindedly. “This is like something out of one of those movies I was watching a few months ago. I knew that ghosts were real, Hana...”

Hana’s eyes darted between Maxwell and Riley. “What has this got to do with ghosts?”

But Maxwell began to pace. “That ring. I think it’s been passed down to the wives of House Beaumont for years. I mean, a lot of years; it’s very old. But I don’t think I’ve seen it since my mom died. Bertrand must have it; he’s all about tradition.” Maxwell paused in his pacing, frowning in thought. “But he’s not given it to Savannah for a wedding ring...why?” He began to bounce on the balls of his feet. “We need to find out. It could be the key to getting Jen back.” He stilled. “Uh, I mean getting you back home... I mean, you are home, but...”

Riley gave him a soft smile. “I know what you mean.” She looked down at the ring, twisting it slowly around her finger. The blue light was present, but it was also constant; no flashing or expanding, nothing else occurring that would seem to defy the known laws of physics. Riley pursed her lips, a plan formulating in her mind. “Do either of you have a ring box?”

“I know right where to find one,” Hana said. “Give me two minutes.”

Riley flashed her a grin. “You’re awesome.”

Hana left them, closing the door softly behind her, and Maxwell’s expression turned troubled.

“Jen’s pregnant,” Maxwell said. “I don’t suppose Hana told you?”

“She didn’t.”

“Eighteen weeks,” Maxwell added.

Riley nodded, slowly. “My Maxwell has some experience with pregnancy. Not mine, but Savannah’s.”

Maxwell let out a little chuckle.

Riley tilted her head to the side. “Um…”

“I’m just imagining how uh, me, but not me, feels about finding a naked hormonal pregnant lady in his bed. He’s just lucky this didn’t happen a few weeks ago, or she’d have been puking by now.”

Riley cracked a smile. “Well, for both their sakes, I’m glad the morning sickness isn’t as bad now.”

He nodded. “So, you and other-Maxwell, you’re not doing this whole royal heir thing?” He shook his head, as if chiding himself. “I mean, Rick, that’s our king, he isn’t married yet, and he needs an heir like yesterday, so he asked Jen and I if we would have a child and allow him to appoint little Maxwell or Jen Jr. as the heir.”

“Liam did the same thing. Except I have some damage to my ovaries, and we tried IVF, but it didn’t work, and that led to a conversation, and we’re really not ready, and so that led to a whole novella’s worth of drama,” she paused. “Well, maybe just a short story’s worth.” She shrugged. “Anyway, we’re not doing the whole royal heir thing, no. Not anymore.”

Maxwell looked wistfully in her direction. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she could detect a hint of envy in his eyes. “Oh. That’s too bad. I’m sorry, Riley.”

“It’s fine,” she said.

His eyes started to well up. She hesitated, wanting to comfort him. “Maxwell and Hana will make sure that Jen is safe, Maxwell. Don’t worry.”

Maxwell looked like he was about to respond, but they were interrupted by Hana’s knock. Maxwell strode to the door and opened it.

“I found a ring box,” Hana brought it to Riley.

“You’re a lifesaver,” Riley said. She clutched the box in her hand and addressed both Hana and Maxwell. “Is Bertrand going to be…accepting of the conclusions we’ve drawn?”

Maxwell laughed ironically. “Yeah…. that’s not likely.”

Riley nodded. “Right. Well, we need to come up with a cover story to tell him then, because we need to find this ring’s….” She carefully slid it off her finger and placed it in the ring box before closing the box and sliding it into her pocket. “…. doppelganger.”


	2. I have some questions

Hana was amazing. It was as if she knew exactly what to do. Mind you, Riley was helpful too, and strangely calm, given the fact that she was the one who’d been unwillingly teleported to another dimension. Between them they’d decided that Hana would remain at Valtoria, to keep up the appearances of everything being _completely normal_ and to intercept anyone who might come looking for Jen. So they’d found a large coat, headscarf, and oversized sunglasses, giving a slightly skeptical Christopher the story that Maxwell had found Jen passed out somewhere, and although she seemed okay now they were just going to visit the doctor to make sure there was nothing to worry about, what with the baby and all. But their real destination was Ramsford, and Maxwell was currently fretting about how he was going to explain this mess to his brother. He’d just sent him a text to say he was on his way over with an important visitor. It was the truth.

He kept throwing glances at Riley during the long drive to Ramsford. He was back to not entirely trusting her. That she knew about Sir Leafenwood von Barksley was a clue that she was telling the truth (nobody else could possibly have known about his penchant for naming trees, let alone what he called them), but he couldn’t help but feel he wanted to test her further.

“I have some questions,” he eventually said, looking at his feet.

Riley nodded and gave him an encouraging smile. “Of course you do. Ask me anything.”

“Okay. So, the first day you and Maxwell met, did he do anything that annoyed you?” There was a plethora of details that she would know if she’d read his book, but there were things that hadn’t made it to the final printing.

“He called me ‘Waitress’,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I have to admit I heard the European accent and thought great, I probably won’t even get a tip out of this. Then later he flung his fork halfway across the room. It wasn’t purposeful, he was just hyper.” A wry smile crossed her countenance. “And then I walked out the doors after my shift, because I’d promised to take the guys to a club, and he looked me up and down and said, ‘The waitress is hot.’ She chuckled. “That was pretty innocent compared to what some guys would say, but Liam was not amused.”

Maxwell’s heart was racing. “And when did you figure out you were into both Liam and me?”

“Well, I had no intention of falling for Liam. I was just looking for a reprieve from my life. When it became clear that he might choose me, I figured I’d say yes because he had to be expecting a political marriage. And it wouldn’t be the first time I’d been in a relationship for reasons other than love. But I knew I was falling for Hana early on that social season, sitting on a piano bench in Lythikos Keep.”

“Heh. Jen told me that was the night she first fell for me, believe it or not. Apparently, some girls fall irretrievably in love with guys who step on their feet during a waltz. Guessing you weren’t one of those.”

“Hmm, Maxwell didn’t step on my feet. But I’d taken ballroom lessons back in New York, so I knew the basics. And Hana had led me through the Cordonian waltz the previous night.” She paused, considering. “You know, when the dance ended with that spin, I felt a little something. I mean, it was so…easy and comfortable to be in his arms like that. But then I said something about not wanting to dance with anyone else, and he got really upset, reminding me that I was there for Liam. Kind of like ice water right down my back.”

This was sooo freaky. “Errr…. Yeah. I did say that, didn’t I? Sorry. I can’t speak for your Maxwell, but I think I was telling myself that Jen was there for Rick more than I was telling Jen. To be honest, although I know now she was serious, I thought she was just messing with me that night. I mean... why would she say that? And, yeah. I had to get defensive. I guess that’s why she didn’t think I was interested.”

“I drew the same conclusion. Thought for the longest time that he saw me as kind of like an older sister or something.”

She looked wistful for a moment, then continued.

“Hana wasn’t going to go against her parents. I got cold feet properly the night of the Coronation Ball. I was going to tell Liam I was officially withdrawing, but Olivia beat me to him with her own announcement that she was going to withdraw, and we’d both gotten these ominous letters. I ran after her, because she was shaken up, and when I returned to the ballroom, speeches had started. And then these photographs hit the news with Tariq’s arms around me because he’d strolled into my room a few days prior with this idea that I wanted to hook up with him,” she paused and caught his eye. “Does any of this resemble anything that happened to Jen?”

Maxwell nodded, slowly. “Yeah. It does. And that’s why I got so paranoid earlier. I thought someone was trying to set me up, like Jen... and you... were set up with Tariq.”

“Yeah, Hana did explain that part. Seems a more logical explanation. I get that.”

He was dying to know more. “Still doesn’t quite explain how you ended up with your Maxwell.”

“Right. Well, Liam and Madeleine were engaged. They had a Tour. I joined up with the Tour because Maxwell and Bertrand had intercepted me at the airport. Bertrand and I kept locking horns; I’d get snarky with the press and he’d have a conniption. We were headed to a barn-raising and the press had cornered us. Well I got snippy with them until we were intercepted by ‘Justin’…” her lip curled into a snarl at that.

“Ugggg. We do not talk about him. Did you go through all that trial hell that we did?”

Riley shook her head. “Not exactly. The trial was kind of anti-climactic. But a bunch of his cronies turned on him, so he seemed to kind of deflate the further it went on.”

“Oh man. I am so pleased for you guys that you didn’t have to go through that psychological torture. I’ll tell you about it some time.” Right now, he wanted to know more about Riley’s story, and she was on a roll.

“Anyway, we built a barn, then we went to a spa, and there you and Hana both were wearing nothing but towels, and it was honestly too much, especially after Maxwell told the story about his hippo tattoo. And then we returned to Applewood and Bertrand wanted to get on my case about how I’d handled the press before the barn-raising. Well I snapped that, obviously he didn’t know what it was liked to be violated and then disbelieved, otherwise he’d have some understanding, and then I stomped off to my room, and Maxwell came to me later and just held me while I cried, and I thought ‘well, this is a real bitch of a situation, having feelings for two people.’ “

“Huh. Jen did pretty good with the press that day, so that never happened. They were all making out like there was something going on between us and getting on her case about it. Apparently, Madeleine had told the press that there was.”

Riley looked a little surprised by that. “Hmm…I don’t think that my Madeleine went that far, but the press did seem to want to connect Maxwell and I together romantically. But they also seemed to want to connect me romantically to a few different nobles. Except for the noble lady I was actually dating, of course.”

“Yeah. Anyway, Jen managed to put them all straight. I mean, they were wrong, even though I wished they were right. But I guess if Bertrand had kicked off at her and she’d been upset that night, I’d have done the same thing.”

Riley continued. “So, we went on the Tour, and Hana and I were basically seeing one another, but she was still trying to snag a husband. Rashad, a nobleman, was one of her suitors, and he picked up what was going on. He offered to marry me and suggested that Hana marry another nobleman, which would allow various involved parties to fulfill expectations of marrying and allow Hana and I to continue seeing one another. But then we went to Shanghai, and Hana finally told her father that she wasn’t interested in pursuing any of the noblemen who were buzzing around her, which had the effect of giving her the courage to realize that she wasn’t ready for a relationship, that she needed to work on figuring out who she was, and she ended things between us.” She sighed. “So that kind of sent me back to wondering what I was going to do when the tour finished. I knew I liked Maxwell, but I figured he didn’t feel the same way, so I didn’t make a real move until we were on a rooftop in New York City, a couple of days after Hana ended things. I looked at him and realized I couldn’t imagine my life without him.”

“Snap. That was where Jen told me how she felt too. I’d had no idea. And I’d just never considered a world in which she might feel like that about me. Other than in a parallel dimension.”

Riley frowned in contemplation. “It’s so odd how some things are different, and others the same, isn’t it?”

“For sure. So, when did Bertrand find out about you and Maxwell?” It was becoming unnervingly easy to speak about this other Maxwell in the third person.

“Liam wanted to meet with me, the last night of the Tour in New York. He’d come to my room saying he wanted to discuss something, and he asked me to meet him so we could go to the Statue of Liberty. Well, gossip spreads like a forest fire, so Bertrand found me and ushered me to the boutique, assuming that Liam was going to propose. But I knew that wasn’t his intention at all.”

“Wait…how did you know?”

“Because I’d told Liam a couple of weeks earlier that I didn’t have feelings for him. I wanted to come clean to him.”

“Oh. Jen never did that. And Rick _did_ propose to her. I think right up until the moment Rick pulled out that ring, she still wasn’t sure what to do for the best.”

“Anyway, I finally got Bertrand to calm down, and he kind of wigged out, saying he was doing this for House Beaumont, which was all he thought he had left, because he and Savannah, god love ‘em, did not know how to talk to each other then. So, I told him the truth straight up, and I locked eyes with Maxwell, and then we were kissing right in front of Bertrand.”

_Woah. How awesome would that have been?_ He was in that moment now, obviously with Jen rather than Riley, picturing Bertrand’s face afterwards.

“Maxwell?”

He snapped back to reality. “Oh, hey. It didn’t happen quite like that for us.”

She smiled, and he allowed himself a chuckle. Okay, so his wife and unborn child were missing, but Riley’s stories were a fascinating distraction.


	3. ....that same skeptical expression she had come to love.

Ramsford in this universe looked exactly like Ramsford in her universe, Riley mused, as the car pulled up to a stop.

Her thoughts were distracted by Maxwell bolting out of the car, slamming the door behind him. A little bemused, she began to open her own door, only to find it yanked open, by Maxwell.

“Oh. Thank you.” She accepted his proffered arm as she stepped out of the car.

They walked through the estate’s familiar doors; Riley just staying a step or two behind her husband’s likeness.

“Hey, Bertrand... yoo-hoo…” Maxwell called out as Riley looked around. Same furniture, same rustic feel to the place. And this universe’s Bertrand had the same skeptical expression that she had come to love.

“Maxwell. And… ah….” He looked critically at her.

“Uh…” Maxwell clearly wasn’t sure where to start.

Riley bowed. “Your Grace, it’s wonderful to meet you.” She straightened. “My name is Riley Zane. I work in the United States Department of State Cultural Heritage Center, and my focus is repatriation. I recently came across a ring that I believe may belong to your house.” She pulled the ring box from her pocket and opened it. “I acquired this ring while working through a caseload that included items of indeterminate origin.” She turned the ring so Bertrand could see the bottom. “A close inspection and some hours of research indicated that this may be House Beaumont’s family crest. My research also indicated that there is a second ring that is almost identical to this one. I’m attempting to determine the authenticity of both rings, to ensure that they are in the possession of their rightful owners.”

Bertrand frowned. “So, what took you to Valtoria? Clearly Ramsford should have been your first port of call?”

“I apologize, Your Grace. I was aware that the Duke of Valtoria here was a member of House Beaumont. I happen to follow him and his wife on Pictagram. That’s how I got in contact with them.”

Bertrand rolled his eyes and then threw Maxwell a disapproving look. “I see.”

“Maxwell explained that he remembered his mother having the ring. I was sorry to hear about her passing.” She threw a sympathetic glance up at Bertrand. “He was wondering if you knew where it was now.”

Bertrand’s expression was heavy, as if he was contemplating what best to say.

“I figured you’d have wanted to give it to Savannah when you got married,” Maxwell chipped in. “But… that didn’t happen, did it?”

“No, Maxwell. Ask yourself why you think it didn’t.” Bertrand shrunk a few inches.

Maxwell and Riley exchanged a glance. It all made sense to her now, but she knew she couldn’t contribute to this conversation.

“You sold it? Bertrand…”

“Alas, I did. I am not proud of it, Maxwell. I didn’t want to sell it. You know better than anyone how desperate times got before your recent contributions to the estate.” He stopped, turning to Riley. “I would say keep this to yourself, but my dear brother here has plastered his tale containing details of our brush with bankruptcy all over the globe. Ironically, by doing so, he has much improved our finances, so I have forgiven his indiscretion in this instance.”

Riley smiled politely, even as she wanted to point out that Maxwell’s “indiscretions” had pulled House Beaumont out of the money pit in more than one way. “Of course, Your Grace.”

“Anyway, back then, I was desperate for cash. I was faced with the unenviable option of selling our beloved mother’s wedding ring or selling the portrait of our ancestor that hangs in the study. I knew that they were both family treasures that meant a lot to Maxwell. I knew he’d know straight away if I sold the painting. I’d been keeping the ring, in the hope that perhaps Savannah and I would make amends one day… but at that moment in time, that hope was all but extinguished. So, I sold the ring. It was the more valuable of the two chattels, in any case.”

Maxwell looked sadly at his brother. “I understand.”

Riley pressed on. “Your Grace, if you remember to whom you sold the ring, it would enable me to track it down and convince the buyer to sell it back, and it could be returned to House Beaumont’s possession.”

Bertrand gave her a quizzical look. “Forgive me, but I don’t understand why you or your employers would have a vested interest in helping House Beaumont procure property that I willingly sold. Shouldn’t you be more invested in repatriating American Indian art, or something that is more within the interests of your country’s government?”

Riley gave him her most earnest and guileless look. “To be completely honest, this is a bit of a personal project of mine. You’re correct that this is outside of my professional responsibilities, but my hobbies and my passion for repatriation seem to have collided in this regard.”

Maxwell sighed. “Bertrand, if we can get it back, we should. If this movie deal comes off, we’ll have plenty of money to buy it back.”

Bertrand scoffed. “You know I have my doubts as to the viability of your latest pipe dream.” He turned to Riley. “Ms. Zane. How do you know that this ring you hold in your hands isn’t the same ring that I sold?”

“This ring has been catalogued in our museum since 2008,” she said, knowing she was taking a slight gamble here, but she had to be convincing. If she gave him a date from too long ago to be safe, he could question it.

Bertrand nodded. “Very well, I will take your word for that, although I am sure you have evidence to back your word up. I sold Mother’s ring far more recently than that, to a reputable dealer. I would have hoped that they would have been able to trace the location of the purchaser, given the historical nature of the artefact. To give assurance to the seller that it is in safe hands, if nothing else. And it would seem that I have been a regular and valued client of theirs over recent years. So, it may be worth a try. I should be able to locate the paperwork in the study, assuming Father has not moved it of course…” He exchanged a glance with Maxwell. “He has been meddling[M1] with my filing system recently. But if it is as crucial as you say to retrace the original…”

“Thank you, Your Grace.” She inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as she watched him go. “I’ve always thought that that painting was a little unsettling. The resemblance between Maxwell and Percival is so uncanny that it’s almost unnatural.” But when she glanced over to him, he was engrossed in his phone.

“Maxwell?”

Maxwell looked up from his phone. “It’s Hana. Rick has come calling, seeing as Jen isn’t answering his calls and of course word got to him, seeing as he’s the King and all, that she supposedly headed to the doctor because she passed out, and he’s concerned. And…. I’ve been dodging his messages because of, you know, all of this that’s going on.”

Riley pursed her lips, thinking. “And you’re thinking we’re going to need to let him in on all of this.”

“Exactly.”


	4. I'd say this qualifies as an emergency.

The long drive back to Valtoria was somehow more and yet less tense. With a solid lead, there was a renewed sense of hope. But it also felt as if there were a million ways things could go wrong.

Before they had left Ramsford, Bertrand had called the jewelry dealers, applying his very best Duke of Ramsford voice of course, and had somehow managed to bypass whichever data protection regulation applied in Cordonia to obtain the name and address of the purchaser of the ring, in England – somewhere he was obviously familiar with, but he wasn’t really sure how comfortable he was with the idea of returning to.

By now Maxwell was starting to feel more at ease with Riley, and they had managed to make light conversation earlier in the journey regarding some of the little similarities and differences in their parallel lives (how they’d even got onto the topic he already couldn’t remember, but he was both shocked and impressed to discover that Riley and Maxwell had a treasure chest in their bedroom full of sex toys). 

But after that discovery, his thoughts had started to stray more easily back to Jen and her predicament and how she was feeling. Was she scared? Had she worked out what was going on? Had she got any leads on why? Obviously, Jen didn’t have the ring that Riley had as a clue. Was other-Maxwell giving her a hard time? Did he believe her story? Or, conversely, were they bonding? Were they getting on really well?

He gulped, suddenly feeling an acute sense of jealousy that had never been triggered since he’d met Jen. For the first time, he had a real contender for her affections, in the shape of, well, himself. But would other-Maxwell be attracted to Jen? Of course he would, she was the hottest woman on earth. Were they hitting it off? Was he showing her the treasure chest right now? [

Maxwell felt his phone buzz and fished it out, glad of the distraction. He read the message from Hana and relayed it to Riley. “Hana has filled them in on what’s happened.”

“Let me guess, Drake and Olivia as well as Rick?”

“Yeah, it’s hard to separate us sometimes.”

“Sounds familiar.” Riley frowned. “So…how did she convince them to listen to her without them having her committed?”

“Hana is very easy to trust.”

“True.”

“She’s just getting a little worried as to how it looks that they’re all gathered waiting for us. Some of the house staff are beginning to ask questions as to how Jen is.”

“Use the secret room?” Riley said.

“Did you just say secret room?” _This_ was exciting. “I mean, we know about the secret passage that leads to the undercroft, but...”

“No, not that one. It’s too dark down there for a meeting. Well, _that_ sort of a meeting, anyway. Pass me your phone, I’ll give Hana the details.”

He obliged, watching her curiously as she keyed out a long message. “I can’t believe you never found it yet. What have you been doing the whole time you’ve been living there?”

“Uh, disco parties, TV marathons, generally running around looking important… hey did you see Squidward earlier? I bet your Maxwell hasn’t got a Squidward.” _Ha._

“No, he doesn’t. He doesn’t have a disco either, though now I know what to get for his next birthday. Or maybe Christmas. He does have an entire dance studio, with a barre and everything.”

“Sweet. I’ve got a music room upstairs, but not a dance studio. I’ll add it to the wishlist, along with the ball pool room and the archery room.”

It wasn’t long before their car was making its way down the long drive that led to their home, and Riley began to put on her large coat, headscarf and sunglasses again.

Once the car stopped, Maxwell couldn’t resist running around to open the door for Riley. Even though she wasn’t Jen, he just felt this brotherly obligation to look after his counterpart’s girl. Hopefully, other-Maxwell would think along the same lines.

Hana must have sent Christopher on some sort of errand, as he was thankfully nowhere to be seen. Together they snuck into the house, and Maxwell followed Riley up the stairs, down the corridor, into bedroom number fourteen and through the secret corridor that led to the secret room.

“So, so, so cool!!” he squealed.

Riley gave him a fond look. Then she opened the door and seemed a little startled by the presence of the presumably familiar faces, their eyes all on her.

Maxwell glanced nervously between Riley and the others as she removed her disguise. Even Olivia couldn’t hide how startled she was.

“Rick, Drake, Olivia, this is Riley Zane. Riley, this is Rick, Drake, and Olivia.”

Riley’s eyes widened as she took in Rick. “Why are you white?”

This was too good an opportunity for Maxwell to pass up. “Oh my god Riley, you can’t just ask people why they’re white!” Riley met Maxwell’s gaze, then broke into a grin and high-fived him. _Phew, she had seen that movie._

“Okay, now I believe you Hana.” Drake said, with a wide-eyed stare at Riley.

Olivia scowled. “Well I don’t trust this woman.”

Rick glanced at her. “You don’t believe in the multi-verse theory?”

“I never said that. I just refuse to believe that there are multiple universes of women who want to marry Maxwell.”

_Ouch._

“I know this must be rather unnerving,” Riley said. “I’m still shocked at seeing Olivia wearing clothing that isn’t pastel-colored or in a cat print.”

Olivia’s eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hairline. “Excuse me?”

“It’s just that you look exactly like the Olivia I know, but far less timid. I mean, you’re actually able to make eye-contact.”

“You’re not serious.”

“No, I’m not. You’re _exactly_ like the Olivia I know. My guess is there’s a small knife in each of your shoes, and at least three stilettos hidden elsewhere on your person.”

Olivia gaped, then shut her mouth with an audible clack.

Maxwell stood back as Riley explained her theory about the ring as she showed it to them and relayed the information that Bertrand had given them.

“The problem is, I’m not sure how to go about returning things to normal. I assume my clumsiness triggered this event, but I’m not sure if we need to remove a diamond from the ring we’ll hopefully retrieve from this antique dealership in England, or….” she trailed off.

“Obviously we need to figure out the magic behind this,” Olivia chimed in, as if there was nothing odd about the fact that she’d just spoken about magic being an explanation. She raised one elegant eyebrow as several eyes turned to her, bewildered. “I assume this has something to do with the Warrior Stone.” She sighed as the looks only became more confused. “Have none of you researched the history of Cordonia’s houses?”

Riley looked thoughtful. “I thought that particular bit of history was from _The Crown and the Flame_.”

“Those authors didn’t make it up though. It’s part of Cordonian folklore. I believed that it was one of the more fantastical elements, but…” She inclined her head toward Riley. “It may have more basis in reality.”

“What is the Warrior Stone?” Riley asked Olivia.

This was ringing a bell for some reason with Maxwell, and he scratched his head. “Sounds kinda familiar… I’m sure Bertrand has lectured me about this before…”

Olivia rolled her eyes at him. “Why am I not surprised at your lack of knowledge of your own family history?” She turned back to Riley. “The Warrior Stone was an artefact held by House Beaumont, back in the 1600s. All the great houses of Cordonia had an artefact of differing characteristics, they were suggested to have magical powers.”

“Wow,” said Drake, deadpan.

“Did House Nevrakis have such an artefact?” Hana asked, curiously.

Olivia looked a little awkward. “Yes. The Warrior Stone, meanwhile...”

Riley smirked. “Come on, Olivia. What was House Nevrakis’s artefact?”

She sighed. “If you must know, it was a magic handkerchief. Anyway, the Warrior Stone… would you all just…. Enough laughing!!!”

Nobody else in the secret room was able to stop laughing for a little while.

“What did it even do?” Drake commented. “Did it blow your nose for you?”

“Ahem. The Warrior Stone was a stone tablet that would sharpen any weapon to its optimum with the slightest touch.”

“I find it curious that House Beaumont had such an intriguing object in its ownership,” Hana said. “I would have thought that was more a House Nevrakis type of possession.”

“Indeed, and it was coveted by the Nevrakis dynasty of the time,” Olivia explained. “You might want to confirm this with Bertrand, but my understanding is that the stone was lost at sea in the 1700s, so I’m not sure how it would have anything to do with that ring…”

“I’ll give him a call,” agreed Maxwell. “This is starting to sound familiar.”

“I can search the libraries,” Hana chimed in. “There must be something I can find that would help us determine how to get Jen back and get Riley home.”

Rick nodded. “Good thinking Hana. There’s no time to waste, we need Jen back safe and sound.”

Maxwell glared at Rick. Obviously, Rick would be worried about Jen too, but Maxwell couldn’t help but feel that Rick’s main concern was his precious heir.

“And I’m sure Riley is keen to get back to her own universe too,” Rick added, perhaps aware of how what he’d just said had sounded.

“I’m well-practiced at research,” Riley added. “Many hands make light work and all that.”

“It would probably be best if you and I fly to England to retrieve the ring,” Olivia interjected. “Your cover story will provide a plausible reason; we can simply add to it by saying we’re trying to hunt down some jewels that belong to House Nevrakis. And it would be less suspicious than you poking around the libraries here while the Duchess of Valtoria is mysteriously missing.”

Maxwell put his hand up. “And I’m coming with you.”

Olivia huffed. “No, you are not.”

“Guys, this is my mom’s ring we’re getting. And it’s my wife that’s missing. I need to do everything I can to get her back. I just have to…”

“Olivia’s right,” Rick said with authority. “Maxwell needs to stay here. After all, who is to say that this ring actually has any bearing on what has happened to Jen, even if it is our best lead at the moment. She could well return at any time. And I think you’ll agree, Maxwell, that you’ll want to be here if she does, not on the other side of the continent.”

Rick was right. He sighed mournfully. “Kay. I get it.”

“Why don’t you come with me to the library in the capital?” Hana suggested, rubbing Maxwell’s arm soothingly. “You can call Bertrand on the way and then we can see what we can find out together?

He shook his head. “No, Hana. I need to stay here. Like Rick said. Just in case.”

Riley exhaled. “Right then.” She looked wearily at Drake. “Whiskey.”

Drake raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“I’d say this qualifies as an emergency. And, if you’re like the Drake I know, he saves the good whiskey for his ‘break in case of emergency’ flask.”

Drake scowled at Riley. “I’m sorry, Zane, I’ve known you for what, twenty minutes, and you’re already after my personal whiskey stash?”

“I didn’t even think you liked whiskey,” Hana said with narrowed eyes.

Maxwell laughed. “Hana, Riley isn’t Jen! I’ve already established that she doesn’t like cookie dough ice-cream, so I guess it’s not unfeasible that she likes whiskey.”

Riley took in Hana’s expression. “Like some people, cookie dough and ice cream are good side by side but not…entangled. They have similar, good qualities, but don’t mesh well. Now whiskey, on the other hand, is a little more versatile. It can pair well with coffee, sugar and cream, it can be added to sugar and bitters muddled together and have a citrus rind or even some absinthe added. Or it can be enjoyed all alone. I very much enjoy whiskey, and it’s been a difficult day, so can I please have some Walker?”

Drake sighed. “The things I do for you people.” He surrendered the whiskey flask from his jeans pocket. “Here, Zane.”

Hana pulled Maxwell to one side for a moment, as the others continued to discuss their plans.

“What’s up?” he asked her.

“Did you hear him just call her _Zane_?” She looked suspiciously across at Riley, before whispering into Maxwell’s ear. “She likes whiskey, so who’s to say she doesn’t like Drake?

He muttered a response. “I think the fact that she’s married to me, but not me, probably says that, don’t you reckon Hana? Chill.”

Hana looked satisfied for a moment, then her face flushed. “We never had this interchange .”

He pretended to zip his mouth. “Best secret keeper in Cordonia, remember?”

Hana smiled weakly at him, and they returned to the group.

“How are we going to explain Jen’s absence in the meantime?” Riley was looking to Rick. “And am I hiding out here in this room until Olivia and I fly out to England?”

Rick frowned. “We could say that Jen is being kept overnight at a clinic, strictly as a precaution, and her exact location undisclosed. Maxwell being here will indicate that we’re operating under an abundance of caution and that we’re keeping her location a secret so there’s no risk of her being troubled by paparazzi.”

Maxwell sighed; paparazzi were probably the least of Jen’s troubles right now. “Yup.”

“We’ll be able to leave first thing tomorrow morning,” Olivia frowned down at her phone.

“Perhaps we ought to take you to the capital, Riley. We could accommodate you in a hotel there and have a driver take you to the airport tomorrow to meet with Olivia and fly out.” He paused. “Alternatively, we could have you and Olivia stay here. Your cover story would suffice, I think. You contacted Maxwell and Jen about the ring, but also had a lead on some Nevrakis jewels, so Olivia traveled here.”

Riley nodded. “The more mundane it all appears, the more believable it will be. I vote we stay here tonight.”

“And Hana could return with me to the Capital,” suggested Rick. “That will not trigger any alarm; she’s a regular at the palace, just as Drake is.”

Maxwell noticed Olivia shoot an unprovoked glare in Hana’s direction. _Drama_.

“Well, I think Drake should stay here with Maxwell,” Hana said, looking between the two of them, oblivious to Olivia’s glower. “Once Riley and Olivia have left, you’re going to need someone with you, Maxwell, or you’re going to drive yourself insane with worry.”

“What?” Drake exhaled with exasperation. “He doesn’t need a babysitter.”

“He needs a friend,” Rick said, firmly.

Drake nodded. “Alright. I’ll stay.”

This was a relief, and he threw his arms around Drake. “Oh, buddy.. that means so much..”

“Gerroff me, Maxwell. I’m only doing this because I know you’ve got some good whiskey hidden up in this place somewhere.”

He let Drake go. “Okay, so who have I got to get Christopher to find beds for?”

“Olivia, and Walker,” Riley said. “Oh, and me. Because I’m not so sure you’re gonna want to share again.”

“Good point. How’s about I find you the _second-best_ bedroom in the place?” he offered. Hopefully the other Maxwell was just as noble.

“The one across the corridor three doors down? Okay.”

“How do you kn…” But, obviously, she knew for the same reason he did. They both laughed at the same time, while the others just looked confused.


	5. ...wasn't planning to mope around...

Riley flopped down onto the second-best bed in Valtoria and felt tears spring to her eyes at the rush of memory.

_“Well, we have tested every single bedroom in this place, and I have to say you’re right, this is the second best.” Riley sat up, stretching her arms over her head._

_“We have to do something special to celebrate it.” Maxwell bounced a bit on the bed, grinning. A flush suddenly colored his cheeks. “Like…me showing my gratitude for the breathtakingly beautiful firefighter who just saved me from a burning building.”_

_Riley giggled. “Mr. Beaumont, I’m impressed. Some men are intimidated by being rescued by a woman.”_

_Maxwell crawled across the bed on his knees. “Not me. I’m totally into it.” He wrapped his arms around her. “You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met; you’re not afraid of anything.” His eyes shone._

_“I’m afraid of a lot of things Maxwell.”_

_“That just makes you more of a badass. You get scared but you stare ‘em down.” He placed a gentle kiss to her cheek. “I have a surprise for you. I’ve been using this bedroom to hide a present.”_

_“Oh?”_

_He jumped off the bed and went to the closet. “Okay, so I experimented with the collage style,” he called, his voice slightly muffled. He emerged, holding a canvas in front of him, biting his lower lip. “I really hope you like it.” He carefully turned the canvas._

_Riley felt her eyes widen. “Maxwell…”_

_“The ‘ashes’ are cut-up copies of some of the articles that were put out, you know, before the truth came out about the whole thing with Tariq. And also bits of my book. Not bits of the actual book, but bits of the manuscript that talk about some of the things from your past that you said I could put in the book. And then, well, as you can see, I drew you, and your wings are made of bits of articles that have been printed more recently, things about your glorious triumphs and whatnot. I used watercolors so you can still make out some of the words and get what I’m trying to do here, with showing what you’ve overcome and all that.” He looked at her with adoration. “I know I’m not the greatest artist ever or anything, but I have the best muse.”_

A knock on the door shook Riley out of the memory. Wiping her eyes, she sat up and walked over to the door.

“Oh. Hello, Your Majesty.”

“Please, Rick is fine.”

She smirked at him. “For you, maybe. For me, it’s plain weird.” She examined him very carefully, realizing she hadn’t really paid him due attention yet. He dressed in the same way as Liam. His gentle, authoritative manner was Liam’s. His movement, his voice... all Liam’s. And yet, his appearance could not have been more different, except for his searching blue eyes.

“I appreciate that. I just wanted to personally, well, let you know that you and Olivia have the full support of Cordonia in your little mission. I can fund any travel expenses; open any doors you need me to. In fact, I’m even willing to have a conversation with Buckingham Palace, if you feel it would be beneficial for me to do so.”

“I think…the fewer people we get involved, the better. But I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”

“Please do. In the meantime, I trust that Olivia will be on her very best behavior.” He smiled, his expression somehow mixing humor and pride.

“Oh, I can handle her. We’ll be best friends in no time.”

“Glad to hear it.” He nodded. “Well, that was what I came to say. I wish you both well on your mission.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I promise, we’ll have the mother of your heir dispatched safely back to you as soon as possible.”

She’d meant this lightly, but soon realized she’d hit a sensitive topic, as he stumbled to formulate a response. “Ah, well.. Jen is.. Jen and Maxwell are dear friends of mine, as you know, and nobody wants to see their friends going through difficult times.”

She nodded. Ever the diplomat. “Of course. I understand that.”

“Well, Hana and I are about to leave for the capital. I am not sure whether I will return with Hana once she has completed her research, as I have a number of engagements over the next few days. So..” He extended a hand. “I wish you well, Riley. Please, give my regards to King Liam of Cordonia.”

She smiled, shaking his hand. “I will.”

“Good night Riley.”

“Good night Rick.”

She closed the door softly. She did feel bad for the guy, now she knew that he’d actually gone as far as proposing to Jen. She got the impression that his friendship with Maxwell was still a little strained as a result. But she also got the impression, from watching him with Olivia earlier, that he wasn’t planning to mope around for the rest of his life.

Still, this heir stuff was mixed up. She was so glad she was out of that. And there would be many more good times to come, like the memory from earlier, when she got home. And she would get home.

_And what will you do if you don’t?_ That damned voice sounded in her mind, the one that wanted Riley to allow life to harden her on the forge.

_Move right in on Hana_ she snapped back at the voice, then rolled her eyes at the way the voice managed to turn her into a creeper. _Go to sleep Zane_ , she told herself. And then, _you’ll get through this one too, Haseya_.

Exhausted, she flopped back onto the second-best bed in Valtoria, this time remembering just how comfortable it was. She closed her eyes, focusing on the familiarity of this world and not the nagging differences, and drifted off to sleep.


	6. If it means anything.

Riley was scrolling through Jen’s phone, browsing through Pictagram, her brow furrowed in concentration, her eyes scanning as if she were a detective cataloguing evidence. Olivia wondered whether she was hoping to find clues in the chronicles of Jen Jones and Maxwell Beaumont, or whether she was just trying to distract herself.

She decided that she was ready to catalogue her own evidence. Apart from her illogical taste in men, this Riley woman was decidedly different from Jen. She looked different, seemed a little sharper and knowledgeable, and was conspicuously less pregnant. But apparently, she inhabited a very similar Cordonia, with an identical Olivia Nevrakis. Her curiosity was burning like a fire; she had to know more.

“When did you stop hating Olivia?”

Riley set the phone down and looked at Olivia with interest. “I never hated Olivia.”

Olivia narrowed her eyes. “I find that hard to believe.”

Riley considered. “I cycled between wanting her to tie me to some bed posts and have her way with me, commiserating with her, and being mildly embarrassed for her. That was the first month or so of knowing her. By the end of Liam’s coronation season, I was ready to kill for her. Or maim, perhaps. During the engagement tour, I added gratitude to my list of feelings I have about her. And by the time of the Unity Tour, I added admiration.”

“Oh.” Olivia was lost for words. This, she had not expected. Her other self had clearly been able to tolerate Riley, for her not to have ended up as her sworn enemy by the end of the social season.

“Yeah. My Olivia doesn’t know how to take a compliment either.”

She huffed. “Why didn’t you marry Ri - Liam?”

Riley gave her a knowing look. “Olivia, I think you know the answer to that question.”

“Fair enough. I suppose I want to know what makes someone fall for Maxwell Beaumont.”

Riley didn’t drift off into a dreamy recollection or act as if the answer should be obvious. “I don’t like to be chased. He stood still and let me come to him. He’s the bravest person I’ve ever met.”

Olivia raised an incredulous eyebrow. “Are you sure ‘brave’ is the word you’re looking for?”

“I used to jump out of planes to fight forest fires. I dropped everything to travel to Cordonia to take place in a borderline-absurd competition for a Prince’s hand, knowing full well I’d be jumping into a snake pit. There was a time that I would have called that brave, but I think it’s more like chasing a high. While the Maxwell I know has some of those same tendencies, he’s also someone who doesn’t allow himself to become hardened by life. That’s a courage that I aspire to.”

Olivia felt a chill that had nothing to do with flying at 30,000 feet. She looked away.

“Why aren’t you married to Rick?”

Olivia looked up, her features hardening. “What makes you think that’s something that I would want?”

“Mostly your defensive reaction right now. I also caught a vibe back there at Valtoria; Rick doesn’t look like Liam, but he has the same eyes. I know what those eyes look like when they’re, you know, full of longing.”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “I take it Liam mooned over you just like Rick mooned over Jen.”

“I’m talking about the way Liam looks at Olivia.”

***

Riley recalled her last conversation with Olivia.

_“He wants to marry me.” Olivia had been staring into her untouched glass of wine for the last twenty minutes._

_“And you don’t want to?”_

_Riley flinched at the sharp sound of Olivia’s laugh. She looked up, her expression schooled into practiced disdain, but it couldn’t hide the hurt in her eyes. “I want him to want to marry me, not marry me because he’s desperate for an heir.”_

_Riley considered the way Liam had looked at Olivia after the last council meeting, the way he watched her retreating form with a wistful smile, as if he already missed her. No, it probably wouldn’t do to tell her that; Olivia wasn’t yet ready to be so vulnerable. “Well, I’ve shipped the two of you since the night of the Coronation Ball.”_

_Olivia frowned. “Excuse me?”_

_“You gave him that cactus, reminded him of what he’d said all those years ago.”_

_Olivia shook her head. “He’s always pitied me.”_

_Riley tsked. “I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure he fantasizes that he’s a great Rhys warrior back in the day, and that he conquers Lythikos, and then conquers the Duchess of Lythikos, if you know what I mean.”_

_Olivia rolled her eyes. “Obviously that’s one of your fantasies. You’re so weird.” She scowled. “I’d better not find that you’ve written fanfiction about us “_

_“Written, no. But there’s plenty of it out there. I do happen to prefer Oliviam to Dralivia.”_

_“Well, that’s something. Let’s face it, you were never going to be a fan of Haxwell,”_

_“Actually….” Riley’s eyes glazed over and she smiled dreamily. “I can dig it. Though I prefer to call it Hanwell. And there’s some quality Draxwell out there even.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Though, if I’m being totally honest, I’m a little disappointed at the lack of Drana out there.”_

_“There is not enough wine in this place to deal with your level of honesty.”_

***

Olivia glared at Riley as her face went through a number of emotions.

“Care to share?”

Riley looked as if she was pondering. “I’m not sure if by telling you what Olivia told me, I’m betraying her confidence. It’s a tough one.”

“Duh, of course you’re not. She’s me, isn’t she?”

Riley looked at her in a way that made her feel uneasy. “You see, that’s the thing. She is, but she isn’t. Like you all are. There are just little things that have made you all slightly unique. And while it’s fascinating, it’s also incredibly unnerving.”

“Best you get back to where you came from then,” Olivia snapped, looking at her watch.

“He does love her, you know.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Liam. He’s madly in love with Olivia. If it means anything.”

She sank into her seat, a little glow of satisfaction warming her inside. “It means nothing,” she snapped. “Like you say, he’s not him. She’s not me.”


	7. Let her get on with it.

They were by now three quarters of the way through a bottle of whiskey, and it wasn’t even two yet. To be fair, Maxwell had probably drunk most of it, and it definitely wasn’t the ideal drink for him. Not enough sugar or glitter to keep him peppy. In fact, he was so downcast that it was as if the fictional dystopian universe of the game was real.

“Maxwell, I’ve never seen someone so morose about a game of Monopoly. And Savannah was scary competitive at this when she was a kid.”

“It just reminds me of all the times I’ve played with Jen,” Maxwell sighed.

“Doesn’t everything remind you of Jones?” Drake was trying, he really was. He could only imagine the hell Maxwell was going through, the waiting and wondering was enough to drive all of them crazy. Drake had chosen the absurdly long game in order to try to eat up some of the time.

“Well, yeah.” He sighed; his eyes misty. “It’s like, that chair you’re sitting in reminds me of her, because she normally sits in it. Those windows remind me of her, she looks through them and waves when I’m walking up the driveway with Chance and Destiny.”

At that, the stupid mutts came bounding in thinking they were being summoned by their master. One of them slobbered all over Drake, while the other assaulted Maxwell. “Ugh. Get off me.”

“No, Destiny, get off Drake. He feels so threatened by how completely cutesy-wootsy-woo you are.” The dogs ran out of the room as quickly as they had appeared.

Maxwell’s face fell again. “The corgis remind me of her too, cos every time I see them, she’s there too. And don’t get me started on having to walk past that nursery upstairs… I’m not so sure I’m gonna be able to do that again…”

Oh no. Don’t start with the blubbing. Not again.

“I mean… what if this whole thing, this going through a rift in dimensions has put the baby in danger?”

Drake frantically thought back to how he’d handled it last time. “Hey, if Riley and Jen can handle is, then I’m sure Maxwell Jr can too. Don’t worry about the baby. And don’t worry about Jen, Maxwell. Out of everyone you know, who would you think would be the most likely to figure out how to get back through a rift in time and space or whatever weirdness is getting on here? Can you imagine her? _Sorry, guys, I mean you’re all alright and all, but nobody keeps me and my man apart for longer than forty-eight hours, not even Queen Isabella of fucking Auvernal, right?”_

He sighed, blinking back the tears. “You have a point, Drake, my good man.”

“You know I do. And she’s gonna want to get back to you as much as you want her back. Just, do what you normally do. Let her get on with it. She’ll come back to you. And in the meantime...” He gestured to the board. “There’s your distraction. There’s still a lot of properties up for grabs on this board. And you just rolled a double. So, it’s your go again.”

He sighed, and rolled the dice, and started to move his counter. “Wait!” He straightened in his chair. “I think I know how to make this more distracting.”

***

Hana frowned at them and peered through the phone’s screen. “Why aren’t either of you wearing a shirt?”

“We’re playing strip monopoly,” chirped Maxwell. “Drake is winning.”

“That depends on your definition of winning,” moaned Drake.

Hana did her best to suppress a blush. “Ahem. Well, I found some important information. The warrior stone has magical properties besides what Olivia relayed to us. It was thought to have had the ability to renew itself if broken, which is why back in the 1600s, Percival Beaumont hoarded a small fragment as a contingency plan in case the stone was ever lost or stolen. A wise move, because the stone was apparently lost at sea 300 years ago. Unfortunately for House Beaumont, the stone did not regenerate. Eventually, a decision was made to emboss fragments of it into some items, like the ring.”

Maxwell nodded. “Welp, so far, our theories are correct.”

“I found something else that I believe may provide an explanation. In the writings of Benjamin Beaumont, he has this: She read carefully from her notes. ‘And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.’

“That sounds familiar,” Drake mused. “Isn’t that from the Bible?”

Hana nodded. “Yes, from the Old Testament. Genesis, to be specific. And here’s what’s particularly interesting. After that, he wrote ‘The depths remember when the warrior stone divided the skies from the skies and the earth from the earth.’ I believe he was referring to the fact that the warrior stone created at least one more dimension.”

Maxwell’s eyes widened. “Oooh! Our house motto!” Hana watched as he looked from the phone to Drake. “So, let’s say it created a dimension that was very similar, but different in some ways. Maybe…maybe because the fragments were different sizes or something…”

“Well, it gives us something to go on until Riley and Olivia return from England. I’ll head back to Valtoria tomorrow, I’ve got these works on loan and I’ll bring them with me, so when we get the ring, we can try to figure out what to do next.”

“Great,” Maxwell exclaimed. “You can join us for a game tomorrow then!”

“Maxwell…” She heard Drake chastising him in the background.

“Well, perhaps a standard game, yes,” she agreed. “Actually, can I have a quick word with Drake before I hang up?”

“Sure. I need to pay a visit in any case,” Maxwell giggled. “All this whiskey is going riiight through me…”

The display blurred for a second, after which Hana saw Drake, but he wasn’t looking at the phone. “Maxwell, you might want to put your boxers back on before you head out…oh, okay, never mind...”

Hana giggled, as Drake shot her an exasperated look. “I thought you hadn’t won yet.”

“Oh, he’s refusing to part with his wedding ring until the very end.”

“How’s he doing?”

“Up and down. Trying to keep his spirits up but every now and then we get waterworks.”

Hana sighed. “Thank you for being there for him. This is frightening for all of us, I just hope Riley and Olivia are able to get what we need.”

Drake nodded. “I just hope all this mumbo-jumbo is actually right, Hana. And I hope that Jones is okay. And the baby.”

Hana had similar concerns, but it was all they had right now. “You know Jen, Drake. She’ll be fighting to get back here as hard as we’re fighting to get her back. Keep your spirits up. And by that, I don’t mean drain Valtoria dry of whiskey.”

“Got it. Well, best get this game over with. See you tomorrow, Hana.”

“See you then.”

As he pressed the button to end the call, she blew him a little kiss. She didn’t think he saw it, but that was fine with her.


	8. This was always going to be the easy bit.

Considering the UK was such a small country, their journey still seemed to have taken forever after they’d landed at the airport, late at night. They’d had to change trains twice; first class train travel was something of a consolation though; Rick wasn’t skimping. And it had given them a timely opportunity to get some sleep.

They had finally arrived at their destination city; although it definitely had more of a town feel than a city feel to Riley. A twenty-five-minute walk had brought them to a myriad of cobbled streets that looked like something she’d seen in films, but never in real life. Everywhere you went, despite the relatively early hour, tourists were snapping selfies, locals were dodging them, and artists of all descriptions were drawing in crowds.

“Keep up,” Olivia hissed, as she marched head down, glued to her phone navigation system. “We’re almost there.”

Riley’s eyes were drawn in all directions by the variety of taverns and teashops on either side of her, and finally the daunting shadow of the huge Gothic cathedral straight in front of them. She couldn’t help but ruminate over the way it was venerable but also permanent. Her own ancestors had all either left their homes behind and stepped off a ship at Ellis Island or been driven away from their lands, their language and identity stripped from them with every snick of the scissors through their hair.

“Here.” Olivia pointed out the sign reading “Antiques Centre” just before the end of the lane. She ducked inside, and Riley followed her closely.

Inside the building had an old-fashioned feel entirely in keeping with its location. She noticed a sign leading to a tea-room to the right, and a reception desk to the left, with rickety stairs at the rear of the building. A sign on the desk was clear and helpful. _“Five floors of antiques. Vintage and collectable jewellery, pottery and porcelain. Militaria. Ancient Artifacts and Jewellery. Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian Antiques. Coins. Vintage fabrics and home décor.”_

Riley looked at Olivia. “Guessing we’re wanting ancient artefacts and jewelry, huh?”

A white-haired gentleman stepped out from a side door. “Ladies. Can I help you?”

“I really hope so,” Riley said. “I see you are dealers in ancient artefacts and jewelry. My name is Riley Zane, and I work in the United States Department of State Cultural Heritage Center.”

The gentleman looked interested. “Do you have something you wish to sell, or locate?”

Riley pulled the ring box out of her pocket. “Locate. I recently came across this ring when working on a case. Does it look familiar to you?”

The dealer squinted and looked carefully at the ring. “If I’m not mistaken, that’s a Cordonian artefact. We have one almost identical in our collection upstairs.”

“Can we see it?”

“Of course. Come this way.”

Riley and Olivia followed him up creaky staircase after creaky staircase, until they were on the top floor of the building in an attic style room. There didn’t appear to be anyone else browsing on this floor.

He made his way to one of the lit-up displays. “Here.” He pointed.

“Wow..” Riley was relieved and delighted to see an identical ring in there.

“Like yours, pearl, with diamonds and other stones set into it. Very distinctive by the tentacle design. Apparently, the family were a seafaring one, years ago. This came into our possession a few years ago.”

“I’m aware,” Riley said. “My research into this ring indicated that there were two such rings in existence. It also led me to Cordonia, to a Duke Bertrand Beaumont of Ramsford, who I understand was the gentleman who sold the ring to you.”

“I see...” The man scratched his chin. “Well, I couldn’t divulge that information, I’m afraid...”

“I have attempted to determine the authenticity of both rings, to ensure that they are in the possession of their rightful owners. I plan to return this ring to Duke Bertrand, but I do need to carry out some testing on the second ring... your ring... to establish that my theory is correct.”

He started to look defensive. “Look, I don’t want to be taken for a fool here. I can’t let you walk out with one of the most valuable items in my collection while you leave a cheap imitation with me for insurance, and the next thing I know you’re on the next plane back to Washington…”

Olivia snapped. “Hey. That is not what we’re about. How dare you speak to Cordonian nobility that way.”

Riley glared at Olivia. “May I introduce Duchess Olivia Nevrakis of Lythikos.”

“Charmed,” said the man, having taken a few steps back.

“We’ll buy the ring from you. Just name your price.” Olivia pulled out, from underneath her long skirt, an envelope that had been tucked into some sort of undergarment.

Riley felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck that was borne of equal parts unease and awe. That was some CIA-level concealment. She had learned not to be surprised by this kind of thing coming from Olivia (all two of them whom she now knew), but it always made her that much more aware of the secret she kept.

“This envelope contains euros amounting to double the amount that Bertrand paid you for that ring.” She threw the envelope down on the floor, and the man picked it up, examining it.

“I do apologize, Your Grace... but it’s not as easy as this. We have money laundering regulations to adhere to… money has to go through official channels... and I can’t just exchange a sum that large at the post office…”

“No, it doesn’t. You work in antiques for god’s sake. You take that, and if it’s not enough, I’ll personally provide you with a replacement or two from my own personal family antique collection in Lythikos. Do we have a deal? Or do I have to get one of my daggers out?”

“She is joking,” Riley said, panicked. “I can’t emphasize that enough.”

“That’s for you to decide,” Olivia frowned.

The poor terrified man gulped. “We have a deal, Your Grace.”

Ten minutes later, Riley and Olivia left the shop. Riley took a moment to take in the sight of the Cathedral before they began to head back.

“Well, that was easy,” Olivia commented. “I have to say, I’m disappointed. I was expecting him to put up more of a fight.”

“This was always going to be the easy bit,” sighed Riley. “The hard bit is, working out what we do next.”

***

Riley continued her deep dive into Jen’s life as she and Olivia made the return trip. She was perusing a copy of Maxwell’s book and scrolling through Pictagram and Jen’s other social media. The differences and similarities between herself and Jen, and between the two worlds in general, seemed mostly arbitrary. A scouring of the interwebs didn’t yield any evidence that there was a Riley Zane in this universe who was her own doppelganger. Riley found herself trying, and failing, to comprehend chaos theory.

She sighed and shoved Jen’s phone into her pocket, rubbing at her eyes. There was little point in speculating right now. She would have to wait until returning to Valtoria before tinkering with both rings and trying to find her way back home.

“Thank you for your help with this, Olivia.”

“You’d never have got that ring without me, you know,” Olivia tutted.

Riley wasn’t so sure, but she had to agree that out of all the alternative versions of her friends, Olivia was probably the most useful for this mission.

“Well, I appreciate you giving up your time, whatever,” Riley said.

“I didn’t do it for you,” Olivia huffed.

“I know,” Riley said. “You did it for Jen. Your bestie, huh?”

“You’re as ridiculous as she is, know that? You’re not going to try and hug me, are you? Ugh..”

Riley smirked. “I grew up in New Mexico. I know how to appreciate a cactus from a distance.” She gave Oliva an appraising look. “Although…I think you’re more like an aloe plant. Either way, I won’t try to hug you without your express invitation.”


	9. always remain true

Counting sheep hadn’t worked, nor had counting squids or corgis or going through the alphabet backwards or recalling the plot of all 8 Stab Spectre films or draining the last dregs of the bottle of whisky for medicinal purposes. It was three in the morning now and although his eyes were tightly shut, Maxwell was still wide awake. Even though he had Chance and Destiny curled up at his feet, the bed felt horribly empty.

He was turning Drake’s words over and over in his head. _Just do what you normally do. Let her get on with it. She’ll come back to you._ And he knew Drake was right. But he still couldn’t let it go. How would Jen be handling a second night away from him? The thought of her feeling as scared and alone as he did right now coiled around his rib cage like a boa constrictor.

No. Jen was strong. She had survived losing her parents, had gotten away from an abusive ex, undergone a plot to have her discredited, fought off assassins on her wedding day. Hey, she’d even put up with being married to him for almost seven months now. But wait… reverse back to the assassins bit…

Maxwell’s eyes popped open.

_The sword!_

On her wedding day he had given her Benjamin Beaumont’s sword. Hana had said that her research revealed that fragments had been embossed in other items.

The sword, with its jewels near the hilt, might contain something that would repair Riley’s ring and bring Jen back to him.

He whooped and jumped out of bed, sending the corgis scrambling. Obviously there was something about this time of night that was conducive to him generating his very best ideas.

***

Rick had laid on a car for Hana to return to Valtoria early the next morning with the literature she’d procured from the library, and it had barely stopped by the time Maxwell threw open the door as it arrived back in Valtoria.

“C’mon, we’ve no time to lose, Hana…”

“Oh, hello Maxwell, I might just need some help with these books…”

“Christopher can get them! I need to know what you think of this. Hurry!!”

Sighing, she climbed out of the car and followed Maxwell into the entrance hall of his home. Without any further ado he produced, from under the spiral staircase, the sword that he’d given Jen as a wedding gift. Last time Hana had seen it, it had been mounted on the wall.

“I had to get it down and have a look at it, but I figured you would know what best to do...”

“Slow down, Maxwell. What are you thinking?”

“Oh, right, yeah, sorry… Last night, I was lying in bed, and I suddenly had an epiphany. You said that when the Warrior Stone went missing, the fragments that our family had kept had been incorporated into some items, and we were thinking the ring might have a fragment in it…”

“That’s correct… oh!” Hana suddenly got what Maxwell was thinking. “And you think…”

“Yup. I know this sword was originally owned by the Duke of Valtoria, but our House took it when we defeated him in a duel. That might have been around that time, don’t you think?”

“I can have a look in the journals I’ve brought back,” Hana said. “It sounds very plausible.”

“So, if you look, it has a jewel near the hilt. I can’t help but think that the sword might also be a key to this. And by key, I mean, literally a key that can open up the portal.” He danced from foot to foot. “What do you think?”

“I think you could be right, but I’d like to make sure that fits in before we start messing around with it,” she warned. “Let me go and get the books…”

Hana retrieved the books and retreated into one of the studies, browsing back through the annals of Benjamin Beaumont for further clues. Maxwell made frequent check ins with her at first (and by frequent, he was in the room with her for far longer than he was out of it) but with a little help from Drake, she’d managed to be left to get on with her research for half an hour at a time. Eventually, she found what she was looking for.

“Bingo,” she said in a self-congratulatory manner.

“What?” Maxwell was already in there.

“Here,” she said, running a finger along the passage. “You’ll be interested to read all of this in good time I’m sure, it tells an interesting tale of the battle between Valtoria and Ramsford. But for now… _on his return to Ramsford the sword was claimed as a symbol of the great House Beaumont’s victory over the Valtorian pretender, and a ceremony carried out to link it forever to the Warrior Stone to ensure it always would remain true.”_

“Oh. My. God.” Maxwell went pale. “I actually solved this thing! Jen’s gonna be so proud of me…”

“She’s always proud of you, Maxwell,” Hana said. “Don’t ever lose sight of that. Now, we have to decide what we do next…”

“Rip that stone straight out of that sword, and stick it straight into Riley’s ring when she gets back?”

There was a call from the hallway. “Your Grace…” Christopher stumbled into the study. “Duchess Olivia and Ms Zane are here to see you.”

“Perfect timing….” Maxwell grabbed Christopher around either side of his face and kissed him on the cheek, before running out into the hallway.

Hana shot a sympathetic smile at a bemused looking Christopher.

“Is everything alright, Lady Hana?” he eventually asked her. “Any news on Duchess Jen?”

“She’s going to be fine, Christopher,” Hana said, crossing her fingers. “I’m sure she’ll be home very soon.”

He retreated, and she gathered up her books and notes and made her way through to the hallway, where Maxwell was spilling out his story to Riley and Olivia at an incomprehensible pace. Eventually, with Hana’s help, they were all up to speed.

“So, Drake, you gonna help me smash this baby open?” Maxwell asked. “I’ve got a mace somewhere that would probably do it.”

“I’d recommend some caution, Maxwell,” Hana said, noticing a horror-struck expression on Riley’s face. “We don’t know for certain that the stone in this sword is part of the Warrior Stone. It could just be that the sword was sharpened by the remnants of the Warrior Stone..”

“I agree with Hana,” Riley said, cautiously. “We shouldn’t be trying to remove any stones ourselves. There must be a jeweler nearby who can help us out.”

Maxwell buried his fingers into his hair and tugged. “The longer we wait…”

“Do you want to do this quickly or do you want to do this correctly?” Olivia rolled her eyes.

“She’s right, Maxwell,” Riley sighed. “My carelessness got us into this mess in the first place. We can’t afford to take unnecessary risks.” Her face fell and she rubbed a hand over her forehead.

Maxwell’s face was serious for one too many seconds, then he cracked a smile at Riley. “Yeah, you’re right, ya damn klutz.”

Hana nodded. “Then it’s settled. Our next job is to locate a jeweler in the vicinity.”

***

The jeweler was remarkably easy to convince to make a house call. It might have been the amount of money offered, or it was possible he had had odder requests, or maybe he simply didn’t care. He certainly spent the time looking completely unruffled as he carefully took the sword apart and examined the stones inside. “Ah,” he said impassively as he carefully plucked a tiny stone and held Riley’s ring up next to it. “A remarkable match; it won’t even have to be cut.” He whistled as he worked at the makeshift station that had been set up for him.

_A sword divides, a ring unites._ Riley sat; hands clasped in her lap. The thought made sense to her, and it seemed to be a good sign that the stone apparently fit into her ring perfectly, but was it foolish to apply logic to something magical?

The stone was set, the jeweler paid and dismissed, and they were left staring at the ring.

“Now what?” asked Drake.

Olivia rolled her eyes at him. “Seriously, Walker? Now Riley puts both the rings on, and, bam! Jen reappears.”

“I can’t help but think you should go back upstairs for this bit,” Hana suggested.

Riley nodded. “You’re right. That’s where the portal must be.” She looked to Drake. “Hey. Thanks for the whiskey, and the wise words.”

“Uh… you’re welcome.” He was reassuringly confused.

“Olivia, I owe you. Thanks for being badass in Britain.”

Olivia smirked. “Being badass is my specialty, wherever I am.”

“Hana… I don’t know what I’d have done without you when I first got here. Thank you.”

“You are more than welcome,” Hana said, giving her a formal but welcome hug.

“Maxwell. You coming up too?”

He looked surprised. “M..me?”

“You were there when it happened, right? And if this is going to work, I think you’ll want to be in the room when..”

“Say no more!” He ran towards the stairs, without looking back. “C’mon, Riley!”

“You’ve got both the rings?” Hana checked.

Riley nodded. “Well, this is it, I guess. Although I might well see you guys again very soon, if this all turns out to have been a red herring.”

“Let’s hope you don’t, Riley,” Olivia huffed.

“For the right reasons,” added Hana.

“Safe passage, Zane,” Drake said with a nod.

Riley smiled, and headed up the stairs and towards the bedroom, where Maxwell was standing, fidgeting nervously, as if limbering up for something.

“Right. Here we go.”

Riley put her own ring back on first, then opened the ring box to reveal the second ring, and, with shaking hands, slipped it onto the ring finger of her left hand.

Nothing happened.

They waited. Minutes passed, and nothing happened.

Maxwell began to hum nervously after a few more minutes, but still nothing.

“I have a horrible hypothesis,” Riley eventually said, her stomach churning.

“What is it?” Maxwell’s eyes were worried.

“A sword divides, but a ring unites. I can’t help but think that that’s a clue. Therefore…. we might have to have sex to open up the portal.”

_“Oh.”_

“Yeah. It was the last thing I remember doing before waking up here. I smacked my hand against the headboard while we were….” She stopped. “No. We weren’t. Not yet. We had our arms around each other, and then Maxwell tickled me, and we started to wrestle a bit, and he was trying to pin my wrists down…that’s when I smacked my hand against the headboard, which must have been when I dislodged the stone. So.. maybe we just have to hug it out.”

“Okay…that I can work with..”

“Do you trust me, Maxwell?”

“After all we’ve been through the last few days? Come here.”

They embraced, hesitantly for a moment, but then it was natural, their camaraderie over their mutual hardship translating into innocent, fortifying touch. There was a sound that was something like a rippling stream.

As they parted, a shimmering portal opened in front of them, as if there was a tear in the fabric of the universe. Maxwell gasped as he saw his mirror image, standing next to the love of his life.

Riley stepped toward the portal, pulled by an invisible force. As if they were two separate poles on magnets, Jen stepped forward to meet her.

Riley opened her eyes. It was a sterile, white room, but ethereal in nature.

Jen stood across from her, eyes wide at first, but eventually she managed a shaky smile. “Well, this is awkward.”

Riley took a moment to look her up and down. “You’re alright? Is everything okay with the baby? If they didn’t take good care of you, heads will roll.”

Jen offered a reassuring smile. “I’m fine. Maxwell Junior seems fine, from what I can gather. And, they were brilliant.” She bit her lower lip. “Has Maxwell been coping okay?”

Riley grinned. “He’s been a trooper. Though I kind of wish I could see his face when you return.” She sighed. “I’m sorry about all of this.”

“These things happen. I’m just so glad you figured out how to put things right.”

Riley raised her eyebrows. “Your husband has to take a lot of the credit for that, actually.”

Her expression lit up in admiration. “You know, I’ve just got to get back to him, and I’m sure you feel the same way. But it was.. _good_ to finally meet you, Riley Zane.”

“You too, Jen Jones. And good luck with the whole raising a prince or princess thing.”

“Thank you.”

Riley glanced at the ring she and Olivia had retrieved as it sat snugly on her finger. Gently, she removed it, as Jen held her own hand out. Carefully, Riley slid the ring onto Jen’s offered finger.

There was the sound of a rippling stream once again, and in the blink of an eye, Riley stood in front of her husband.

“Riley,” he gasped, his face registering shock, then relief, then delight.

Riley threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder, sobs wracking her body.

“Hey, shh…it’s okay,” he said softly, rubbing a hand over her back. “You’re home now.”

She pulled back, sniffling. “I was so scared I’d never see you again.”

“I was scared too. But I knew you’d come back to me.” He inclined his head behind her. “The diamond and the stone that came from your ring, caused a…tear, I guess you could say. We couldn’t get through it though. It was like…when there’s ice forming that’s just hard enough not to crack. And nothing we tried would pry it open, and nothing in Hana’s research gave us enough to go on. But we knew that, somehow, one of our teams would crack the code.”

Riley smiled. “You know, Maxwell Beaumont, you never cease to amaze me.”


End file.
